Welcome in the Spring and Summer vibes with this Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette! This platter has something for everyone, with a variety of veggies, marinated artichokes, dill-lemon quinoa, and other goodies.
If you’re like me and would want to eat this whole platter of veggies on your own, then you are in for a treat. For all the vegetable lovers, this salad definitely delivers. You can also get creative with the choices of veggies too. Here, we used:
- zucchini
- yellow squash
- asparagus
- red onion
- tomatoes
- marinated artichokes
- castelvetrano olives
And there are some other types of vegetables that would be amazing in here too, and you can roast them along with the garlic — like broccoli, cauliflower, fennel and bell peppers.
We use fresh dill and parsley in this recipe, which you may have noticed has been an obsession for me lately. Other great herb options would be basil or rosemary and oregano.
In addition to the fresh veggies, as I mentioned, we have marinated artichokes and olives. These are optional but add great tang and salty, dreamy texture. This would also be great with kalamata olives, roasted red peppers, and/or sun-dried tomatoes.
Another reason I love this recipe is that it’s great warm or room temperature, and also makes a perfect meal prep! It’s just so versatile and will hold up really well as a go-to meal during the week.
There’s a bit of multi-tasking that goes on with this recipe. But, it times out really well to do your prep and stovetop cooking, while the garlic roasts in the oven.
Let’s get into how we make it happen!
How This Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette Comes Together
First, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (fan/convect). Cook 1 cup of dry quinoa according to the package directions. Once it’s done, transfer the quinoa to a large mixing bowl and drizzle some olive oil and lemon juice, salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, slice the bottom narrower end off of a full bulb of garlic, so that the garlic themselves are exposed. This is so that once the garlic is roasted and super soft, you’ll be able to squeeze the soft garlic out. Place the garlic cut-side up in some foil like a little package. But before you seal the package, drizzle some olive oil, salt and pepper on the exposed cloves. Then gather the foil together to seal it, and place into the oven for 40 minutes.
After you place the garlic packet into the oven, chop the red onion into fairly thick chunks. Trim the tough ends off the asparagus, then cut the remaining asparagus stems in half or thirds (your preference). Place the onions and asparagus on a baking tray, drizzle generously with oil, salt and pepper and toss. Place the tray into the oven and bake around 15 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are crisp-tender.
While all this is in the oven, preheat a grill pan on medium heat. Then, it’s time to prep the squash! Trim the ends off the zucchini and yellow squash, then make slices on a diagonal around 3/4 cm thick. The thinner the slices, the quick the squash will cook. Sprinkle some oil onto the grill pan and place the squash evenly across the pan, then brush some more oil on top. Sprinkle the squash generously with salt and pepper. Cook 3 to 4 minutes or until the squash is tender but not mushy, then flip and cook another few minutes. You want some nice grill lines.
Grab your olives and marinated artichokes. If you like, you can chop the marinated artichokes, after draining away any excess liquid. Finely chop the fresh dill and mix it into the quinoa. Also chop the fresh parsley to top the salad later.
To make the roasted garlic dressing, squeeze the roasted garlic into a blender. Add juice of 1/2 of a lemon, 2 tbsp white wine vinegar, 2 tsp dijon mustard, 1/2 tsp kosher salt and pepper, and 1/4 cup olive oil.
You’re now ready to assemble! Mix about half of the dressing into the quinoa and toss, along with the fresh dill. Spread the quinoa onto a serving tray. Now lay the zucchini and squash across the quinoa. Top with the olives, marinated artichokes, fresh parsley, and additional dressing. Enjoy!
Other Delicious Non-Leafy Salads
Cucumber Vidalia & Avocado Salad
Orzo Vegetable Salad with Vegan Honey Mustard Dressing
Quinoa Salad with Zucchini & Tomatoes
Grilled Vegetable Quinoa Salad with Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
- 1 cup uncooked quinoa
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Juice of 1/2 lemon
- 1 bulb garlic
- 1/4 of a large red onion
- 1 medium bundle asparagus
- 1 tsp avocado oil
- 1 large zucchini or 2 small
- 1 large yellow squash or 2 small
- 1/2 cup marinated artichokes drained
- 1/3 cup castelvetrano olives or to taste; can be subbed for other olive varieties
Roasted Garlic Vinaigrette
- roasted garlic bulb from list above
- Juice of 1/2 of a lemon
- 2 tbsp white wine vinegar
- 2 tsp dijon mustard
- 1/2 tsp kosher salt and pepper
- 1/4 cup olive oil.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (fan/convect). Cook 1 cup of dry quinoa according to package directions, then transfer to a large mixing bowl. Drizzle 2 tsp olive oil and lemon juice, and a dash of salt and pepper.
- Meanwhile, slice the bottom narrower end off of a full bulb of garlic, so that the garlic cloves are exposed. Place the garlic cut-side up in some foil like a little package. But before you seal the package, drizzle 1 tsp olive oil, some salt and pepper on the exposed cloves. Then gather the foil together to seal it, and place into the oven for 40 minutes.
- Chop the red onion into fairly thick chunks. Trim the tough ends off the asparagus, then cut the remaining asparagus stems in half or thirds (your preference). Place onions and asparagus on a baking tray, drizzle with oil, salt and pepper and toss. Place the tray into the oven and bake around 15 to 20 minutes until the vegetables are crisp-tender.
- Preheat a grill pan on medium heat. Trim ends off the zucchini and yellow squash, then make slices on a diagonal around 3/4 cm thick. Sprinkle some oil onto the grill pan and place the squash evenly across the pan, then brush some more oil on top. Sprinkle squash generously with salt and pepper. Cook 3 to 4 minutes, then flip and cook another few minutes or until the squash is tender but not mushy. You want some nice grill lines.
- Grab your olives and marinated artichokes. If you like, you can chop the marinated artichokes, after draining away any excess liquid. Finely chop the fresh dill and mix it into the quinoa. Also chop the fresh parsley to top the salad later.
- To make the roasted garlic dressing, squeeze the roasted garlic into a blender, and add the lemon juice, white wine vinegar, dijon mustard, salt, pepper, and olive oil. Blend until smooth.
- Mix about half of the dressing into the quinoa and toss, along with the fresh dill. Spread the quinoa onto a serving tray. Now lay the zucchini and squash across the quinoa. Top with the olives, marinated artichokes, fresh parsley, and additional dressing.